Indie Review Trackerhttp://indiereviewtracker.com
Book Promotion Made EasyThu, 11 Dec 2014 01:57:37 +0000en-UShourly1Leveraging the Social Webhttp://indiereviewtracker.com/leveraging-the-social-web/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/leveraging-the-social-web/#respondSat, 01 Nov 2014 01:05:40 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=5545If you’re like most indie authors, you already understand the power of word of mouth and of social media to drive book sales, even if you’re reluctant to tweet, post or google chat online. Guest blogger, Tanisha Williams, the brains behind the ChatEBooks distribution and social media site, has stopped by today to talk about leveraging the social web for self-published authors and how it might be possible to simplify the demands of social media by interacting with readers directly via a sales interface. Take it away, Tanisha…

Since the advent of the Internet and e-reading devices, the self-publishing industry has virtually exploded in popularity. Before the digital revolution, self-publishing was somewhat frowned upon—a “vanity press” operation in which authors financed their own publishing efforts due to an implied lack of interest. Nowadays, any author wanting to self-publish can present his/her work to a potential audience of millions with just a few clicks of the mouse. It is now easier than ever for aspiring authors to experience self-publishing success.

Hugh Howey, a prolific and highly successful self-published author, recently published an eye-opening report asserting that the earnings of self-published authors have surpassed those of authors signed with the big five publishing houses (Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster). Such data underscores the shifting balance of power taking place in publishing, especially where authors’ publishing capabilities and royalties are concerned.

While the Author Earnings Report is definitely encouraging for the aspiring ebook author, it is important to note that a small percentage of self-published authors earn the lion’s share of the royalties. According to a 2103 survey of over 5,000 authors conducted by Digital Book World, a mere 0.6% of self-published authors earned over $200,000 in 2013, and roughly one-fifth of the self-published authors surveyed earned nothing at all. Extravagant success stories will always be in the minority, which leads most authors to question the “missing ingredient” that keeps the majority from achieving breakthrough success.

Social media, while not the entire recipe, can be part of the equation for self-publishing authors who want to have their cake and eat it too. Sites that provide for direct interaction via comments, likes, shares and author Q&A help readers engage with authors and connect within the context of the selling/reading experience. Unfortunately, most ebook publishing platforms only allow authors to upload and sell ebooks, receiving royalties as well as reviews (hopefully rave reviews) from readers, and few offer anything in the way of establishing true connections through social interaction. If you are an avid ebook reader, you may be able to leave a detailed review of an author’s book on a sales site such as Amazon or Apple, but wouldn’t it be even better if you could provide feedback directly to the author, and then have that author respond in kind? Facebook, Twitter and the like are fine for engaging, but rarely offer the author direct chances to sell as well. So how can the two merge, harnessing the power of social connection and using it to drive sales? That’s something I asked myself in establishing ChatEbooks, which provides readers with direct access to the authors whose work they have come to appreciate and support.

Where ChatEbooks truly begins to stand out is not only a digital publishing platform but also as a place to engage with readers. Although there is already a large number of publishing platforms and venues to choose from, and each has its strengths and weaknesses, ChatEbooks is unique in offering the ability to self-publish your book while leveraging the power of social media to connect authors and readers directly at the site of sale. Authors who upload to Chat eBooks retain complete control over the pricing and distribution of their work, and keep 100% of the revenue from sales. Also, unlike many other digital publishing platforms, they have immediate access to any monies generated from book sales. Better yet, the unique social media interactivity offered by ChatEbooks allows authors to directly respond to readers in an exciting and personal way—a benefit that can pay great dividends in referrals and recommendations. It is no secret that word-of-mouth is still the most powerful form of advertising, and by offering readers a personal connection to your work via ChatEbooks, you open the door for them to share your work with their networks, producing more fans for you books, and more revenue for the author! My aim was to create nothing short of a booklover’s dream, a site that would become an ebook publishing platform of choice for authors looking to expose their work to a diverse audience and for readers wanting to connect with authors in a meaningful way. With the myriad of built-in advantages, and with complete control over royalties and price-setting, my aim is to encourage indie authors to take advantage of this powerful self-publishing and self-promotional platform.

Thanks Tanisha, for stopping by to share your thoughts. The Internet offers so many opportunities for sales and networking, and I am a firm believer in not putting all of your eggs in one basket. Startups such as ChatEbooks are great for enabling authors to spread the love, and ChatEbooks offers a 30-day trial period for authors and a very low annual membership of less than $10, with free registration for readers, so check it out today.

]]>http://indiereviewtracker.com/leveraging-the-social-web/feed/0Adding Literary Devices to Up the Antehttp://indiereviewtracker.com/adding-literary-devices-to-up-the-ante/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/adding-literary-devices-to-up-the-ante/#respondSat, 25 Oct 2014 01:26:15 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=5529I know that I haven’t found time to post to the site for ages, but it is largely because I’ve been concentrating on my own writing, and life in general. So today, some writing “craft” words. Some time back, I wrote a post on literary devices and techniques that bestselling writers often incorporate in their novels. At the time, I meant to go on and do a second post, and maybe even a third or fourth, but, as is often the case, life (particularly one little three-year-old life) got in the way. So when I finally snatched up another child-free day, I knew just how to spend my time: writing another post on literary devices, this time focusing on ones that sound extremely peculiar. So here you go … enjoy.

CAESURA. Derived from the Latin, the name of this device comes from the same base as the word “caesarian,” so it is associated with “cutting” or “slicing” off part of a sentence or a rhythm (in poetry) into two distinct parts that still remain intrinsically joined. In modern fiction, you are most likely to see caesura used with an em dash (—) or exclamation mark to create a long pause at the “departure” point. Such a pause adds dramatic or emotional intensity, and is especially effective to convey surprise.

For instance, “Gone!—yet his bed was still warm.” In poetry, caesura follows the patterns of speech and is the breath we usually take in the middle of a line (known as a “medial” caesura in those instances, although it can also occur the beginning or end of a line). It is usually represented by // in poetic works. In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “Mother and Poet,” initial caesura is introduced at the first line.

“Dead! //One of them shot by the sea in the east”

Caesura is said to be feminine if the pause follows an unstressed syllable, and masculine if it follows a stressed syllable.

CATACHRESIS. From the Greek for “misuse,” as a literary technique catachresis can be said to be a hodgepodge of devices that serves to create impossible imagery. Think mixed metaphor, but with hyperbole and metonymy thrown in. Poet e.e. cummings often used catachresis, jumbling together various senses. For example: “The voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses.”

Of course, eyes don’t have a voice, so this is classic catachresis. It has the effect of making you stop and think about the words, which means you focus on the words voice and deeper. Coupled with the overwhelming imagery of eyes and roses, it has a powerful pull, even if eyes don’t really have a voice, strictly speaking.

Shakespeare also used catachresis rather frequently, such as “to take arms against a sea of troubles” (a sea can’t be fought with weapons) and “I will speak daggers to her”—both from Hamlet. Although entirely figurative, because you can’t literally speak daggers and a sea doesn’t really have “troubles” (a case of personification), readers have no problem imagining what is meant. For the most part, you want to use catachresis sparingly, but in some instances, particularly if you’re using it in confusing action scenes to give a jumbled emotional effect or to portray conflicting or confused emotions, or even just to create vivid but unusual metaphors (again, sparingly or it will seem like you’re a serial metaphor mangler), it can work very well.

CHIASMUS. It sounds more at home in a list of mythological beasts, but chiasmus is a combination of two parallel yet inverted phrases or concepts. Usually, words or phrases are repeated in a reverse order in chiasmus, which accounts for the device’s name: referring to the Greek letter chi, represented as a “cross” in Greek, which is indicative of the “crossover” nature of this device.

For instance, Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” or Byron’s “Pleasure’s a sin, and sometimes sin’s a pleasure” are both examples of chiasmus. And, of course, there’s always the ever-sassy Mae West with, “It’s not the men in my life, it’s the life in my men.” (Go, Mae!)

Often overlapping with antimetabole (which will feature in another such post on some other day, when I can eke out time), it doesn’t always require an identical swapover, only a certain parallelism. For instance, “Naked I rose from the earth; to the grave I fall clothed.” Even spoonerisms can sometimes be used to create the effect of chiasmus, such as in this Randy Hanzlick song, “I’d rather have a bottle in front of me/Than a frontal lobotomy.” (And so would I, thank you very much!)

LITOTES (pronounced Li-to-tees) are negative expressions of affirmation, and are sometimes more simply known as ironical understatement. More often than not, they are used to soften something that might otherwise have a negative connotation. E.g. “She was not a bad poet” also implies that she wasn’t a very good one, but the former is far kinder.

In today’s vernacular, you might commonly hear litotes such as: “How are you today?” Answer: “Not bad.” Litotes such as this are very common in Australian English, and Aussie comedian Carl Baron performs a skit about Strine (the Australian language), which you can watch here if you’re so inclined. The language “litotes” part starts at about 1.44.

One of the most famous of all litotes is the Rolling Stones song “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” which is a double negative that of course, really means they’re likely getting plenty of satisfaction—and with Mick and Keith’s track record, who can argue? So there you have it. Four weirdly named devices to think about as you edit that first draft. Watch this space for more posts on literary devices coming soon, including antimetabole, anastrophe, hyperbaton, and zeugma. Happy word-smithing!

Please feel free to share the post on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus or elsewhere, and please also share any of your own examples of the above devices in the comments. Also, the first book in my fantasy Dark Guardians series, Cruxim, is currently free on Amazon,Apple, Kobo and B&N, in case you want to read it and point out my own uses of caesura, chiasmus and the like.:-D

]]>http://indiereviewtracker.com/adding-literary-devices-to-up-the-ante/feed/0How to Polish your Online Reputation in 5 Easy Stepshttp://indiereviewtracker.com/how-to-polish-your-online-reputation-in-5-easy-steps/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/how-to-polish-your-online-reputation-in-5-easy-steps/#commentsFri, 05 Jul 2013 23:22:21 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=5341Today, I’m pleased to welcome Kimberley Laws, who has kindly agreed to stop by to chat about polishing your online persona. Take it away, Kimberley…Does your staff snicker behind your back? Have the locals taken to pointing at you and laughing when they see you downtown? If you haven’t committed an outrageous faux pas and you don’t have a piece of toilet paper perpetually stuck to the bottom of your shoe, you may be suffering from the fallout of negative reviews and a marred internet image. The only way to put an end to the hearty guffaws is to become known for something else—a stellar online reputation.

Creating and maintaining an awesome online image is not as difficult as it sounds.

In fact, you can have them taking you seriously in no time by following just five easy steps.

1. Do some sleuthing

You need to begin by investigating yourself online. What are people saying about you? The best place to begin is by Googling your name and the name of your business. This should yield some relevant results.

Another place to check is review sites like Yelp, Angie’s List, Zagat, or any others that pertain to your line of business.

If you have social media accounts and haven’t visited them lately, be sure to check them out right away.

2. Go to your happy place

If you have discovered that your problem is, indeed, your online reputation and that you have received negative online comments, you need to take a minute to compose yourself. Engage in some yogic breathing. Mentally visualize your happy place. Heck, do some dusting if it’ll make you feel better. But never formulate a response when you are in shock or angry.

Now that you have recaptured your sanity and can view things from a rational vantage point, you may begin carefully planning your next move.

3. Make it right

Everyone makes mistakes. The defining moment, however, is how you handle these errors of judgement. If you deny them or try to shift the blame, you will wind up looking not just inept, but untrustworthy too. The right thing to do is to accept responsibility for your wrongdoings and try to rectify them.

Approach the wounded party directly and express your regret. •

Find out how you can best make up for your mistake. Once you have agreed on a resolution, follow through with it.

Never attack someone online or allow yourself to be sucked into an argument. Remember that others are watching this exchange and you will be judged based on your conduct.

Learn from your mistakes.

4. Shower yourself with praise

You need to encourage others to shower you and your business with praise. You can do things to facilitate this.

Make sure that you own the domains for your name and your business name. This way you can keep better track of what type of “talk” is being generated about you.

You can request references from happy customers, important business contacts, and other influential people to post on the homepage of your blog or website.

Invite reputable people to write guest blogs for your site or offer to write one for theirs. In return, you can reap the benefits of being connected with well-connected persons.

Become involved in the community and make sure to reference these altruistic endeavours online. Of course, do this in a tasteful way and not in a self-congratulatory manner.

5. Do inventory

Make sure that all of your social media accounts are set for maximum privacy. You need to keep your private life private. Also, delete any pictures or posts that portray you in a less than professional light.

Close down accounts that you no longer use. Try to focus on the social media platforms that work best for you and your business. This will also allow you to better keep track of your online reputation.

Set up a Google Alert account to keep you abreast of any new posts that arise about you or your business.

Dedicate time to reputation management each and every day. This will avoid future problems and help maintain a glowing online image.

If things have gotten out of hand and you need negative review advice, you may want to seek the assistance of a professional online reputation management company.

By following a few simple steps, you can polish your online reputation to its former luster. Silence those sniggers and swipe off those sneers. Thanks to your efforts, your internet image will be fully restored. And the next time someone
slaps you on the back, you won’t have to check for a “kick me” sign.

]]>http://indiereviewtracker.com/how-to-polish-your-online-reputation-in-5-easy-steps/feed/1A Real Romance Love as it should be writtenhttp://indiereviewtracker.com/a-real-romance/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/a-real-romance/#respondFri, 24 May 2013 05:36:19 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=5252I know that I owe you all a post about marketing and promotion, and probably another post about editing, but first off I wanted to share with you the joy of reading a novel that really resonates with you. As writers, we need to make sure we’re never too time poor to read. I’m lucky in that I frequently encounter other indie authors who are as inspiring as they are talented, and whose books I buy and read with pleasure. One of those authors is Donna Fasano. I met Donna as a part of the Indie Chicks Cafe, but I didn’t know at the time just how illustrious a career she has had.

Donna Fasano is a three time winner of the HOLT Medallion, a CataRomance Reviewers Choice Award winner for Best Single Title, a Desert Rose Golden Quill Award finalist, and a Golden Heart finalist. Her books have sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide and have been published in nearly two dozen languages. Her books have made the Kindle Top 100 Paid List numerous times. She is truly an author to be astounded by. So when I saw her latest book, RECLAIM MY HEART, was out, and it featured a (ahem) partly-clad Native American man on the cover (she found my weak spot!), well, what could I do.

Reclaim My Heart – A Review

I must say, I’m often not a huge fan of contemporary romance. I find that modern romances sometimes glorify bad boys who in real life are best left alone, and that heroines can be spineless, simpering girly girls—which is why I was so blown away by Donna’s new book, because that is definitely NOT the case here. Donna’s characters are real people, with real pasts and problems, and the romance is entwined around the real-world issues of racism and a need to return to the simple pleasures of life, moving away from consumerism and towards a lifestyle in tune with the earth.

Tyne, our heroine, is a single mother with a haunted past. When her son becomes a teenager, the shadows of his lonely upbringing come to the fore and he falls in with the wrong crowd, and the only man who can help him is his father: a Native American lawyer named Lucas Silver Hawk. A man who, as far as Tyne knows, was unaware his son even existed until she turned up asking for his help. As father, son, and mother rediscover each other, they also find themselves. Fasano cleverly weaves in Native American stories and folklore with the wonderful character of Uncle Jasper, and doesn’t shy away from Tyne and Lucas’s emotional issues. On the whole, I really enjoyed this read. It was smooth, well-written and with characters you could really care about and a HEA that had me secretly cheering. Plus, it had a really heart-warming message of knowing who you are and where you belong.

In case you’re not convinced, here is the blurb:

Sixteen years ago, Tyne Whitlock cut all ties to her past and left town under the shameful shadow of a teenage pregnancy. Now her fifteen-year-old son is in trouble with the law and she is desperate for help. But reaching out to high-powered attorney Lucas Silver Hawk will tear open the heart-wrenching past in ways Tyne never imagined. Forced to return to the Delaware Indian community where Lucas was raised, Tyne and Lucas are tempted by the heated passion that consumed them as teens. Tyne rediscovers all the reasons she found this man irresistible, but there are scandalous secrets waiting to be revealed, disgraceful choices made in the past that cannot be denied. Love is a powerful force that could heal them both—if the truth doesn’t rip them apart.
I highly recommend you grab it today from:

]]>http://indiereviewtracker.com/a-real-romance/feed/0A Deal I HAD to Share… Night Trilogy Boxed Set for just 99c (Save $7)http://indiereviewtracker.com/a-deal-i-had-to-share/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/a-deal-i-had-to-share/#commentsSat, 27 Apr 2013 03:30:04 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=5200Occasionally here on the IRT Showcase, I feature an author’s book or deal because it just represents great value for readers, and I think that all indie authors, as well as being writers, should be readers. We all need to keep our finger on the pulse of what is great writing, to read the works of others in our genre, and to read widely outside of our own genres as well. That’s why I couldn’t help but bring you this fabulous offer from Amazon bestselling author Carol Davis Luce.

Her “Night” series of thriller novels has routinely maxed out the Amazon charts, and now she has put Night Stalker,Night Game and Night Widow together in a boxed set NIGHT TRILOGYand for just two days 27th and 28th April 2013, that boxed set is available for just 99c, a saving of $7. That’s right, three 4*+ rated bestselling novels for just 99c. Here’s what people are saying about the “Night” series…

“From the first page to the last, there is no escape for the reader–this book must be completed before any peace of mind can return; tension increases rapidly. Gripping!

–DROOD REVIEW

“Night Stalker is a spine-tingling thriller with Alex and Justin’s steamy relationship adding spice to the electrifying plot. Tops in thrilling suspense.”

“A juggernaut in the genre of Romantic Suspense. Carol Davis Luce’s Night Game has been a fixture on Amazon’s bestseller lists, scoring rave reviews and earning a reputation as a stunning piece of fiction…the hot sand and high rollers serve as the perfect backdrop for a game of cat and mouse where you either end up in love or dead.

–Kindle Fire Department

“All the characters are fascinating and believable. The villain is evil personified. Luce writes romantic suspense that is just too good to miss.”

Writing was my second career in the second half of my life. I began as an artist. What attracted me to writing? I wasn’t satisfied with the ratio of romance to suspense in traditional thrillers, so I decided to write what I loved to read, suspense with a strong element of romance (contemporary Gothic). English in school was not a strong point, but storytelling won out over sketchy language rules. Then a funny thing happened. The longer I worked at writing, the better I got at this thing called grammar.

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

Romantic suspense. Although, after dipping my toe into the ‘coming of age’ women’s fiction genre, I may have found a second love.

How has your upbringing influenced your writing?

I had a quirky and somewhat challenging childhood. My new novel, AWAKENING: Secrets of a Brown Eyed Girl, echoes a large portion of my early childhood in Southern California in the 50s. An era when no one locked their doors and it was safe to let your child roam the streets—in most cases, that is. As a latchkey kid, being on my own a lot helped to fuel my already over stimulated imagination. From the time I was old enough to sit in front of the tube, I became fascinated with things that go bump in the night. TV shows that were grounded in a deep creep factor, and puzzlers. Alfred Hitchcock, Twilight Zone, and Science Fiction Theatre drew me in like maggots to a corpse. When I learned to read, I devoured mysteries, true crime books, and anything scary or twisted. I see the world differently than most people. I see menace in every corner. Always have. I scare myself.

Where do you get your inspiration and ideas from?

In real life, if something odd or unusual happens to click on that light bulb in the creative chamber of my mind, I start to play the “What if…?” game. What if a beautiful model is splashed in the face with acid? What if the suspicious death of a recluse leads to hidden bodies in a small mining town? What if a woman is stalked in her own home? What if a woman with psychic powers sees a brute of man abducting women off the street? See the pattern emerging here? Woman + jeopardy = Women in Jeopardy.

Do you have any writing rituals or listen to “mood music” when you write? Where is your favorite place to write?

My creative brain doesn’t kick in until noon, so anything I try to write in the morning is garbage. I really get going around 4 pm—wine time. I like to think that my best writing comes with a glass of the red stuff (the Hemmingway School of writing). I’m most productive writing in my dining room with the TV’s white noise in the background.

What’s your favorite place in the entire world?

Whatever place gives me peace, makes me think, and accelerates my pulse. That’s usually in the fabulous world of books.

Fame or fortune, which would you prefer?

A little of both. Famous enough to have my name recognized in the literary arena. Enough coin to continue to pursue my writing career full time.

Give your fans three fun facts that they may not already know about you.

1. At birth, I had a collapsed lung and I squeaked like a mouse.2. I first appeared on TV at the age of ten to give a one-year-old elephant a birthday party.3. I played at a blackjack table in Reno where comedian Bill Cosby was the dealer.

What advice would I give to new authors? You’ve heard it before, but it’s worth repeating: Read. Write. Develop a thick skin. Write in a category you love. One book isn’t going to get you far unless you’re another Margaret Mitchell or Harper Lee. So write. Write. Write. Before you put that wonderful book out there for the world to see (and pounce on), enlist several critique and beta readers to make sure it’s market ready. Pay to have it properly edited and formatted. Pay a copyeditor to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. Design a stunning book cover, or hire someone to design it for you. Write a product description that hooks the reader—make it sing. Oh, one more thing: write a damn good book.

About Carol Davis Luce

Amazon bestselling author of the “Night” books, NightWriter Carol Davis Luce writes standalone suspense novels with strong elements of romance. After publishing five books through a traditional publisher, she turned independent author with her 2011 suspense novel, Night Widow, and two short story trilogies. In 2012, her new release Awakening: Secrets of a Brown Eyed Girl branched out into women’s fiction. This tough, coming-of-age novel is a fictionalized memoir, loosely based on her childhood. She lives with her husband Bob, and their psycho cat in Sparks, Nevada.

Thanks so much Carol for offering readers such a great deal and letting us know a little more about you.

]]>http://indiereviewtracker.com/a-deal-i-had-to-share/feed/2Divine Intervention: Author Style M. Edward McNally's Indie Prayerhttp://indiereviewtracker.com/divine-intervention-author-style/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/divine-intervention-author-style/#commentsFri, 19 Apr 2013 00:10:41 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=5172Sometimes, when we’re not considering sacrificing a few goats to the god of Zon or selling our souls for a 10K bump in sales rank, all of us indie authors feel the need for a little help from above, or below, or sideways, or wherever you feel a divine presence is located (pray tell!). So today, because it is Friday and because I’m shrugging off a less than enthusiastic review and because author Michael Edward McNally is one droll fellow, here is a little humor with Ed’s fabulous “Indie Prayer.”

An Indie Prayer

Dearest Digital Gawd, now available as gif, jpeg, or bit map,Give me this day a couple uninterrupted hours,As I swore to myself I would have this chapter done Tuesday, and now it is Thursday.No wait, it’s Friday. How did I lose a whole day and this thing still isn’t done?

Grant me the serenity to just let that idiotic comment on facebook pass by,Lo, though it is the stupidest thing anyone has ever said, ever, and it vexes me sorely,And though I have typed a long, witty rejoinder that no one with half a brain could possibly argue,Just let me hit delete instead of post this one time, and return to my labors.

Cyber Gawd, grant me the courage to write with honesty,Even though technically I’m making all this stuff up.If that’s what the story wants, that’s what the story gets,And let not me pull my punches.

Oh, Editor Above, please for to make with the grammars and such,Even when I’m typing really fast, and my verbiage may seem most strange,And the colons begin to lie down with the semicolons,Let me sort all that out later, as this is a draft.

Great Reviewer on high, grant me the patience to not check sales every four minutes,Or look for a new review every seven minutes,Or see if somebody commented on my blog in the last eleven minutes,Or, in any other way, to Google myself.

And, Sweet Redeemer, if it’s not too much trouble,If you could put something edible in my fridge today, apart from ketchup and cocktail olives,As I’ve been meaning, but only meaning, to get to the store,That would be swell. But no more beer, thanks. I’m set.

Heavenly Plotter, please touch my characters’ hearts with mercy,So that they will do what I want them to do just this one time,Instead of complicating the plot so I’m going to need like two more chapters here…Actually, strike that, that’s the best part of the book.

Most wholly holy of holies, let me not look haughtily askance at any of your creations,Even if they end in –ly, or are otherwise misshapen.For to everything there is a season, and a purpose under heaven,Even adverbs.

Big Space Pooba, grant me the wisdom to distinguishThe bits I just happen to love, from the bits that actually move the story forward,And give me the strength to ix-nay the loved bits sometimes,But not every time, as this is not Paint By Numbers.

Let me write one day at a time,Enjoying one moment at a time,Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,Taking the world outside as it is,While having the world in my head and heart as I would have it,So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,And supremely happy in the next.

Amen

]]>http://indiereviewtracker.com/divine-intervention-author-style/feed/1Return on Investment Where Best to Splash Your Advertising Cashhttp://indiereviewtracker.com/return-on-investment/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/return-on-investment/#commentsThu, 11 Apr 2013 01:26:40 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=4666Every now and again, I reach a point of total disillusion with my book sales. In the past, this has usually resulted in a knee-jerk reaction to either raise or lower prices, to hit the relevant permitted “spam” threads of all of those sites I frequent, and to tweet up a storm, usually with negligible effect.

However, since I released Cruxim, I have been trying to work to a broader marketing plan that recognises that some of my books might occasionally have only okay or average months (or even dismal months), and that hopefully another title will drag me out of the doldrums. This means alternating books in and out of KDP Select, a structured pricing plan, some scheduled and in person social media, and some advertising that takes in a range of different distributors, price points and goals.

When I first started advertising my books, my approach was largely “suck it and see.” I tried banner ads, paying for promotion from author promotion sites, signing up to free promotional sites, fiverr, Goodreads and Facebook advertising, my own social media efforts, and several of the more well-established advertising or free book listing sites, Of these, the latter have shown the most immediate return on investment, although I wouldn’t rule out the rest, simply for top of mind awareness.

For me, banner advertising has proven the least effective method on a cost vs results basis, and a recent survey of online advertising and its effect on viewers has suggested I’m not alone in that, with as many as 72% of people ignoring banner advertising. I paid a high traffic site $50 to advertise and the impact was minimal. But I have had success on another site that was more targeted to my genre and readership (and also much cheaper), and the best-selling author has also helped me out with tweeting and linking, which was great because we have the same readership. If you decide to invest in banner advertising, I’d suggest you make sure it is on sites where your core audience might hang out—for instance, popular teen sites if your book is YA, rather than more general booklovers or authors sites. Go straight to your demographic.

A good guide to assessing the likely outcome of banner advertising on another author’s site is to first consider how many pageviews per month the blog or page gets. Most sites either advertise this on their “About us” or “Advertising” pages, or should willingly provide you with this information. When they do, you can check whether they are being honest by using a site such as www.alexa.com where you plug in the URL and it will tell you how many pageviews the site receives. Alexa is by no means entirely accurate. But if they’re telling you they’re getting thousands of views a month and Alexa is telling you it is more like hundreds a month, then they’re probably stretching the truth). Also consider:

Whether the site can make available information about its demographic (the age of visitors, the language spoken, where they are from).

How long the average visitor stays on the site?

Is your ad on a rotation, or is it live for the entire period of your paid advertising?

How does the site enable you to measure click-throughs (e.g. does the advertising email you a weekly link, as Indie Review Tracker does) showing you how many people clicked on your ad?

How many books would you have to sell over the duration of the ad to break even?

Advertising across a range of different media will help you to spread the word and garner “Top of Mind Awareness”—after all, most people will need to see your book three times before they commit to buying. However, if you have a limited budget and you really just want to see every advertising dollar result in sales and rank jumps, then your best bet will be to advertise to a list-based advertiser, such as Bookbub, Bookblast,BookBasset, or Today’s eReader Buzz.
If you decide to do so, the information you should investigate is:

How many readers are on the list for that particular genre?

How many books would you have to sell, and at what price, to break even?

What is a likely estimated number of books sold for other authors in that genre?

About what time does the email go out? (So you can get an idea of when to start your own promoting too and when to sit with bated breath watching your meteoric climb towards the top 100 free).

Because for so long I only had poetry, short stories or children’s ebooks on the market, I had been unable to run a personal test on some of those sites. With the release of Cruxim, I paid for a Bookbub ad for the book’s free days as part of Select. Many other authors had already shared their amazing success using Bookbub with me, and it was great to see that my own experience reflected the incredible power of Bookbub as an advertising tool. Featuring on Freebooksy, Ereader News Today, Kindle Fire Department, and Kindle Nation Daily as well, catapulted Cruxim to #8 free in the Kindle Store, and the follow on sales and borrows have been very encouraging and resulted in my best month so far.

For the $90 I invested, it was far and away the best return on my advertising dollars. Having said that, it is not easy to get a listing. I had to try several times, all the time garnering more reviews, before Cruxim was accepted. So if you submit and are turned away, make sure you get onto the Indie Review Tracker, find established bloggers or book bloggers who will review in a timely manner, and start gathering “critical acclaim.” Bookbub won’t necessarily tell you why you’ve been rejected, but keep trying. If you’re repeatedly being turned away, also revisit your cover (is it professional and engaging?—they don’t take books that haven’t been professionally edited or that don’t have a pro-designed cover), and your blurb and sample to make sure they’re enticing and error-free.

Other advertising sites that promote your book deal or freebie (or sometimes free books only) primarily to a website that gets high traffic, but also sometimes to a smaller newsletter or email list are:

I’ve had the best results with Pixel of Ink, FK Books and Tips and Kindle Fire Department. Mixed bags tend to be Kindle Nation Daily (some of their offerings are worth the money but the high-end prices for others reduce potential RoI) and Book Gorilla, with some authors finding Book Gorilla to be a little expensive for its returns. Getting your free or paid book on any of these is likely to see corresponding small jump sales or downloads and a little bit of a rank bump too, but “how much?” is the question. Most also offer a guaranteed placement for very little, anywhere from $5 to $50. If you are going free, ideally you should submit to all and any sites that will list your freebie or your deal. I’ve complied a list of sites that advertise free books on my post Making Your Ebook Free?: Read this First.

On the whole, I now feel I’ve reached a point where, rather than flinging poop at walls and seeing what sticks, I have a good idea of what works for me and my books, and how to rotate them all through these sites to ensure that each month I am turning a profit on my work. With a quarterly advertising budget of $250, I now think I can generate ongoing sales and rank rise. And as I release more books, the promotion is becoming easier, because each book acts as a business card for the others; when one is selling well, it gives the others a slight nudge too.

I think for most indies who are newly published, the trick is to pour early capital back into the business. So while my books are not paying my mortgage just yet, the more of the income they generate that I put back into advertising and promoting them, the closer I get to my goal of surviving on books alone. Happy days!

I’d also wager that the number of sites that operate in a similar way to Bookbub is set to skyrocket, so keep your eyes out for others that can provide a substantial sales increase for a medium-sized investment. And if you know of any not listed here, be a doll and share the site in the comments. We’re all in this together and because each book is unique, we really have no competition. Let’s all find ways to help each other make a living from our words. As a way to help out other authors, I’m also offering free advertising on Indie Review Tracker for May. All you have to do is email me indiereviewtracker@hotmail.com the link to your book and the cover art resized to 120 px wide by 180 px wide and I will advertise the book for the month of May until all slots are filled. Ads operate on a rotation basis, so first in first served. There is absolutely no ongoing cost or obligation to you in doing so. It is an entirely free effort to help promote your book, so happy advertising!

]]>http://indiereviewtracker.com/return-on-investment/feed/18Dark & Clever Fiction: I am Eternalhttp://indiereviewtracker.com/dark-clever-fiction-i-am-eternal/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/dark-clever-fiction-i-am-eternal/#respondMon, 25 Mar 2013 10:47:05 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=5117For as long as there’s been a Vatican
the Church has hunted Simeon Magus.

He is tired of running…

Simeon Magus has been alive… undead nearly two millennia. He has watched the undead go from myth to adored celebrity and he exists, hiding from a determined and lethal group of hunters who do not listen to reason and won’t stop until he’s destroyed.

Simeon witnessed and lived history and he doesn’t know if he wants any more of it. He wants to connect with someone again, to feel close to another, but when he meets somebody on a train who knows too much about him, Simeon cannot trust that he isn’t another of the Slayers. Is his new friend sent to eliminate him or the hoped for salvation from the tedium of eternity.

I Am Eternal‘s author, Athanasio Galanis, is not just an author but is also a skilled cover designer. Today, he has graced us with his presence for a quick chat about his Predatory Ethics series.

How would you describe your book/s?

The larger storyline is Predatory Ethics, a perversion of Do Onto Others As You Would Have Them Do Onto You. It follows a man who decides to thwart destiny and change how the world is set to destroy itself. He kidnaps the Antichrist of Revelation and raises him to not follow what was written and decide for himself whether he’ll do what Fate has decreed.

What inspired you to write your book/s?

There was no single inspiration for the books. They evolved from watching the Omen when I was a child to immersing myself in histories and conspiracy theories all over the web. I still get inspired when I come across a particularly implausible website that cites a connection between Alistair Crowley and former US president George W Bush, or that his father was a CIA opperative that shot JFK. The idea is fantastic, impossible but still sounds like wild fiction.

Are your characters based on real people? People you may know or TV/Movie stars?

They are based on family, friends, acquaintances and anyone or anything that I remember to make them feel real. It’s weird what you remember but there are details to how someone stood or walked or spoke that will make it to characters in my work and I can disctinctly remember these details as a part of specific people that they may not have even been aware of.

If your book/s had a theme song, what would it be and why?

It would be the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For the Devil” because in many ways all of Predatory Ethics is an exploration of evil, the Devil and the Antichrist who is reputed to be the Devil’s son.

What’s up next for you?

I’ve taken Simeon Magus, a secondary character of Predatory Ethics and have begun writing his story in I Am Eternal. I wanted to explore the supernatural through the eyes of a vampire who is trying to live out his existence as quietly as possible.

I’ve chosen to put down my primary writing in Predatory Ethics because it is much more complex than I Am Eternal and I needed to do something that would be more accessible and easier to digest.

What inspired you to be a writer? Is there anything in particular that spurred you on?

No single inspiration except I like seeing where the stories I like to imagine with my What If’s will go. I enjoy the story in the writing as much as someone would reading it.

Do you have any other Talents or hobbies other than your literary wand?

I’m creative in many ways, I can draw, put a graphic composition together very well and work with pixels in a very pleasing manner. I work as a graphic artist in my day to day job and also have been creating covers for indie writers as a side-line. My work can be seen at: www.mad-gods.com/CoverHIRE

Are you working on anything else besides this?

Yes I’m working on the next installments in both Predatory Ethics and I Am Eternal.

The Predatory Ethics book 3 is “In Whom To Trust” and it follows Adam as he grows older and still rejects his believed destiny but discovers that this rejection has evolved him from Antichrist and is slowly turning him into the Redeemer of other religions.

I Am Eternal book 2 is “Vampires and Indians” and it continues Simeon’s recollection of the old west and his facing his oldest enemies, the Vatican Slayers.

Could you give us a few words to people who haven’t yet read your book/s?

Predatory Ethics and I Am Eternal are not just horror, or alternate history. They both show underlying motives to how we live our lives, from love to ambition, and social acceptance to demanding individuality. They’re both complex, Predatory Ethics more so than I Am Eternal but they make you ponder deeper points than usually found in traditional or indie literature.

]]>http://indiereviewtracker.com/dark-clever-fiction-i-am-eternal/feed/0Why Hitting the “Bigtime” is a Mythhttp://indiereviewtracker.com/why-hitting-the-bigtime-is-a-myth/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/why-hitting-the-bigtime-is-a-myth/#commentsWed, 06 Feb 2013 12:19:08 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=4664A few weeks ago, an author friend of mine who has had some real success selling on Amazon (we’re talking shifting tens of thousands of books in the first few months of publishing her novel) told me she felt disillusioned. Even though some of her books were selling great guns, and she really felt like she’d hit the bigtime with one of her novels, every time a new book was released, it was straight back to the grindstone of marketing and promoting.

Just having success with a few of her titles didn’t guarantee her success with the others, and having hit the bestseller charts on Amazon for her genre provided no guarantee that she would stay there. In fact, everything from Amazon algorithms to the indie author review scandal seemed designed to tear her ranking down again. So with each book released, it was a matter of starting at the bottom.

Her words made me think of JK Rowling, whose recently released novel for adults A Casual Vacancy has been largely panned by critics and readers (even if it has sold a truckload). How difficult it must be to follow on from a successful novel with something that is equally successful. I realized how true my friend’s words were: each book represents another mountain to climb. We can’t just sit back and hope that luck, our good name, or the success of a former novel propels our books up the charts—at least not until we have a lot of books out and a lot of media representation behind us. Not until we’re a household name.

As indies, we have to work hard to keep every book afloat. It can be just as exhausting trying to hang on to a position in the charts as it is to climb up to those rankings in the first place. Now, I know that some of you who aren’t selling anywhere near several thousands of books a year, or a month! (and I count myself among you), probably think “boo-hoo for your friend,” but I have no doubt that those authors who routinely hang out somewhere in the top 200 ranked books on Amazon aren’t just letting promotion slide. I’m sure that they’re watching every plummet in ranking too, and coming up with ways to counteract flagging sales.

Sure, word of mouth helps. Having a lot of positive reviews helps. Certainly having a large base of fans who picked up your first book helps too, but I still think that to maintain a position on Amazon’s charts, now more than ever marketing, advertising, and publicity are necessary.

I’ve known several authors who have come out guns blazing with one title and managed to do really well with it. But the follow-on from their next book hasn’t been half as phenomenal. Why? I think partly because they didn’t bother to promote, thinking their former success would see them through, and partly because they didn’t necessarily build on their earlier fan base. Some then switched horses mid-stride and wrote the second book in a different genre, rather than giving fans what they had enjoyed in the past (and I am guilty of this too). Sure, plenty of people might have read my friend’s first book and enjoyed it, many reviewed it, most loved it, but there was nothing else there for them to go on with at the time (and I noticed this myself when I only had Cage Life out). The author hadn’t converted them into fans on a Facebook page, mailing list (you can subscribe to mine in the right-hand menu), on Twitter, or on another more personal site where they would receive updates about the author’s new books as they were released. So, of those fans, most were left to their own devices to hopefully, one day, find the author’s next novel when it hit the virtual shelves. That represents a lost opportunity for marketing to a core market: readers who read and liked that author’s work in the past.

Establishing direct author-to-reader relationships

The authors who seem to have consistently strongs sales across their titles are those who have a thriving Facebook page or fanpage for their books, a lot of Twitter followers, and an easy to find “subscribe” section to their websites or in the back of their books, so that fans can receive email updates from the author hot off the press. This kind of direct-to-reader relationship is very important. Of course, having several novels in a series, usually with the first “permafree” (permanently priced at $0) also helps. Authors of a series are drawing fans in with the freebie, and then have plenty of other novels in the same series for eager, satisfied readers to go on with immediately. This is partly why I’m keen to get the sequel to Cruxim out before Easter.

So, if you haven’t already, I’d urge you to start thinking about developing a subscription list, either via your blog, or using MailChimp or a similar program, and adding a link to it to the back of your novel. David Gaughran has written a wonderful blog post about why mailing lists are so important and how to get started, so check it out too. I’m starting to think about how to do this for my novel Cruxim, and I’m hoping the novel will help keep readers interested long enough for me to finish the second book. In the meantime, I’ll keep on enjoying little successes, and I’ll keep on writing to get the sequel out as soon as possible, and I’ll keep dreaming of hitting the bigtime, myth or no myth.

What has been the most successful method you’ve found of enticing readers or fans to read your “library” of books rather than make ad hoc single sales? I’d love to hear about your marketing successes, or your struggles to gain sales traction in the ever-changing writing marketplace, so let me know how you’re getting on in the comments.

]]>http://indiereviewtracker.com/why-hitting-the-bigtime-is-a-myth/feed/4Looking back on 2012; forecasting for 2013http://indiereviewtracker.com/looking-back-on-2012-forecasting-for-2013/
http://indiereviewtracker.com/looking-back-on-2012-forecasting-for-2013/#commentsMon, 07 Jan 2013 13:26:47 +0000http://indiereviewtracker.com/?p=4684As 2012 is done and dusted, I thought it would be an opportune time to reflect on some of the challenges independently published authors faced in the year just past, and to make some basic predictions about how things might continue to change in 2013 and how indie authors might capitalise on opportunities that arise.

Bear in mind that I first self-published via Smashwords and Kindle Direct Publishing in mid-2011, and short stories and kids’ books rather than full-length novels, so compared to some other indies, I don’t have a lot of personal results to draw on. I can say that in the year and a half I’ve been indie published, the playing field has changed considerably. In the heady days of July 2011, sales were a lot healthier, Amazon’s Select program was a twinkle in Jeff Bezos’s eyes, and indies were alive with enthusiasm. Since then, things have calmed considerably.

Sales have largely plateaued, and not just for me it seems, but for a lot of authors I know. Word of mouth is still vital. Free runs still shift books, although questions are being asked about for how much longer and about plummeting ranks post free runs. Reviews are useful (although some are questionable in the light of the Ellory and Locke scandal and Amazon’s subsequent author review witch-hunt). Some reviewers have turned their backs on indies, claiming rudeness, aggression or the oft-repeated lack of professional presentation. Some paid advertisers have become “must-have” elements in any indies promotional strategy, and other promotional activities, such as blog tours, now seem to flag in comparison when it comes to shifting copies, even if they’re great for exposure.

Few of the main players have changed, although, like indie authors, each is trying to shore up their business by diversifying, trying new things and still testing what remains rather an uncertain and changing marketplace.

Select: still worth it?

I’m trying to hit as many markets as possible for Cruxim after an initial Select run.

Amazon, with around 60% of the book marketshare, is still far and away the Big Daddy of eBook sales. Its exclusive Select program, which was

introduced in 2012, offers authors lucrative per copy dollars on borrows and enables authors to easily price their book free to increase exposure for five days out of a 90-day period. Select saw many indie authors flock exclusively to Amazon, myself among them. However, some of the gloss seems to have worn off Select in recent months. Amazon’s own algorithms, which at first rewarded books for “going free” by counting downloads as sales, have increasingly minimised the percent at which downloads count towards sales rank. There has also been talk that Amazon is trying to limit the number of free books advertised on sites such as Digital Book Today and Ereader News Daily, and that the Popularity charts are rated to favour higher-priced books (which casts doubt on the 99c price-point strategy now too).I have found that Select gave my sales a real bump in the early days, but even free runs now seem to give my books little lasting propulsion. With several other companies attempting to branch out and expand their marketplace into other areas of the globe, following an initial Select run, diversity has become my goal for 2013 for my newly released novel Cruxim.

Kobo: making friends and influencing peopleMany predicted that Japanese-owned company Kobo might be the international ereader company to break Amazon’s stranglehold on the market, particularly after July 2012 when Kobo Writing Life provided a means for authors to upload directly to Kobo, and to make their books free whenever they want. The jury is still out on whether Kobo Writing Life is worth the added hassle of dealing with yet another upload program and reporting system, but many authors on Kindleboards have lauded the interface while complaining about the ranking and reporting. In December, news was

released that Kobo was partnering with a popular German IT company to make Kobo ereaders available to a German market, and Kobo has also capitalised on the library ebook market in the UK. Earlier in 2012, Kobo also set up deals with the American Booksellers Association and the UK Booksellers Association, and announced that Kobo ereaders would be distributed by Ingram in the US. It seems Kobo is the one to watch in terms of ereader marketshare in 2013.

A cash injection for Barnes & Noble

The clunky interface and poor search functionality of the Barnes and Noble bookstore, coupled with B&N’s poor customer service and diminishing consumer interest in the Nook eReader, has seen some indies suggest the B&N will struggle to maintain its reputation as one of the world’s largest

Do we still need our words “smashed”?

Ah, smashwords. What to say about Smashwords? For indie authors who are just starting out or don’t have or the know-how to the time to go direct to other channels, Smashwords is an excellent alternative to having to go through the palaver of uploading to all of the other sites individually.I believe Mark Coker is one of the good guys and that Smashwords is a very useful site for indie authors who are just starting out, and for me, it worked just fine until I decided to go Select. However, it is also the publisher of a ton of rather eye-popping smut and some very poorly produced books, and even though Smashwords has expanded on its upload options, so you can “potentially” avoid the “meatgrinder” this time around by uploading an ePub, there are still issues. Reporting is slow, uploading is often slow too, and the time taken to remove books from the extended distribution channels after the author has unpublished (and to report sales) is woefully inadequate, and it is annoying plenty of indies at present who are trying to price free the “hard” way or to leave Smashwords entirely. Short of getting you into that tricksy Applestore and not having to deal direct with B&N, as well as the nifty coupon functionality, Smashwords offers little in the way of professional-looking online bookstores or even exposure. But, under the leadership of Mark Coker, Smashwords continues to grow. Profits were up, employees increased, the number of authors using Smashwords increased and they signed deals for distribution with Baker & Taylor, 3M Cloud Library, and another “yet to be announced” major player. I wouldn’t rule Smashwords out just yet, although it is clear that there is still some work to be done until its as smooth an operation as some of the other distributors on offer.

Take a bite of the Apple in 2013

Despite Apple’s enormous success with the digital music revolution, the clunky Apple iStore is still struggling to be a major player in the movement of ebooks. Part of this is no doubt due to the sheer single-mindedness of Apple as a brand and a platform—it seems almost determined to weed out those who don’t buy those cunningly packaged little devices (said the girl who was thrilled with her iPad Christmas gift and is typing this on her Macbook). Unlike Amazon, whose Kindle app is almost universally available on Android, Apple, PC , Kobo and Sony devices, publishing direct to Apple involves jumping through several extra hoops, and even the release of Apple iBooks Author in January 2012 hasn’t made things too much easier. You need an Apple to publish, and even my Mac with Snow Leopard installed needs an operating system upgrade to use it. Nevertheless, it is on my lists of things to do for 2013, and I have heard that the ease of adding interactive features is worth the effort. Considering that Digital Book World’s predictions suggest that 2013 will be the year of the enhanced eBook, with “an increased appetite for illustrated and nonfiction books that did not sit well on e-readers,” it just might be worth exploring.Perhaps an even greater incentive for taking a munch of the Apple in 2013 is that Apple, too, is aggressively pushing into the Japanese eBook market. For ages, Konrath, Dean Wesley Smith, David Gaughran, Ed Robertson, Digital Book World and the other big thinkers in indie ebook publishing have been suggesting that the real money will come when densely populated nations such as India, China, Russia and Japan really embrace e-reader technology, but Japan already has an extremely healthy technology sector and Japanese routinely read on smart phones and tablets, so Apple’s move might introduce authors to wide audience (especially for those who are able to negotiate a Japanese edition) and rival Kobo’s Japanese dominance.

Big publishers come to the party (and then sit in the corner)2012 can be said to be the year that most of the big publishers finally sat up and began to take real notice of e-publishing. They started to convert their backlists, they examined their pricing strategy (largely as a result of the DoJ’s case against price-fixing and anti-consumerism policies instigated b

y the Agency Model), and, toward the end of year, some even began to price on par with indies, causing some indies to go into a tailspin and others to argue that a level playing field on price would make indie books even less distinguishable from legacy-published titles. Some even began to streamline their warehouses and printing costs, looking towards PoD or eBook only editions as a viable option, and to cut book lines and strictly control new authors’ digital rights. Two of the biggest, Penguin and Random House, have even merged, although such conglomerations are no surprise in the history of publishing.Have they got a way to go? Sure. And I think the cogs of change grind so slowly inhouse that it will be some time before they can rival the agile

ubiquity of an entrepreneurial indie author … so make the most of the knowledge that you’re light on your feet. You can change the price and you can promote yourself. Seize any opportunity to get the word out.

the best-selling ebooks of 2012 were all in the Hunger Games or Fifty Shades series and that close to two-thirds of the bestselling titles of 2012—comprising 17 out of the 25 titles—fell under the Random House or Penguin stables. Clearly, indies still have a way to go to rival the blockbuster legacy authors when it comes to promotion, publicity and shifting billions of books (especially in light of the news of Random House and Penguin’s merger). Having said that, hundreds of indies are reporting great sales and I know of at least four indies I interact with online who were able to quit their day job in 2012 to write fulltime. I think that number will continue to increase in 2013 as we all keep on publishing ever more titles.And remember, the ereader market is far from saturated. Ereader use continues to increase, especially on tablets. A recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that as many as 33% of Americans own an ereader or tablet (and the US is easily the biggest ebook market, with Britain, Europe, Australia, Canada and Asia still lagging behind). Library borrowing of eBooks was also up 2% on last year in the US. There are still plenty more eager minds of all ages who are yet to pick up an ereader and realize its benefits.

Some early adopters of indie publishing, at first buoyed by the seemingly easy cash to be made and now disappointed with how things have turned out, will have turned their back on indie ebook publishing now that the game is a little harder to fix. Those who are in it for the long haul look set to reap the rewards of increasing numbers of foreigners going digital.

Where will the big sales come from?

As always, it’s a mug’s game trying to guess that! However, many are suggesting that children’s ebooks and illustrated books will be the next big thing in the eBook market. A study by PlayScience and Digital Book World suggests that a staggering number of US children between two to thirteen read ebooks and that 40% of the parents of children who do, planned to buy them a new ereader over the holiday season.My feeling is that the young adult and tween market is where it is really at right now, as youngsters snap up increasingly more affordable ereaders, and I can’t see why that shouldn’t continue throughout 2013. Illustrated picture books, non-fiction and enhanced ebooks will definitely follow the technology, but I still think fiction will continue to shine, and kids’ fiction especially in 2013. Some have also suggested that 2013 will se

e the world’s first $0 ereader—a lure to sell product. If that is the case, watch out for India, China and Africa to suddenly enter the market in a big way.It seems clear, too, that several advertising sites are still driving big sales for indie authors. Among them are Bookbub, Kindle Nation Daily, Ereader News Today,Pixel of Ink and (for free books) Freebooksy and Free Kindle Books and Tips. But don’t rule out courting the help of rising newcomers to the world of promoting to reader lists, such as Today’s Ereader Buzz and Bookblast. I predict that plenty more of these advertising sites will be needed to meet readers’ demand for deals, and authors demand for advertising that results in a direct climb up the ranks.

So, what does all this mean for the average indie author?

Ways to capitalise

Consider diversifying. Many authors are doing an initial 3-month KDP Select run and then branching out into the other sales channels with aggressive promotion to increase exposure in those other channels as well as on Amazon. My strategy for the release of my new novel Cruximis to trial a 3-month stint in Select, followed by making Cruxim available directly to as many platforms as possible and using Smashwords only for distributors such as Sony, Diesel, and Barnes and Noble, which make it difficult for Australian or international authors to go direct. I also plan to check out AllRomance and Omnilit, two other sales channels I’ve heard good reports about but haven’t yet used.

Create a print edition. Only 25% of the books sold worldwide are ebooks. The remaining 75% are print books.Even if you shift few copies, having a tangible printed book in your hands is something to be proud of. Whether you use Lightning Source, Lulu or CreateSpace, a print edition doesn’t have to cost the bank.

Sell direct from your website, but remember that while this increases your take-home $$$ it does nothing for your sales rank for online distributors.

Write for kids, YA and teen markets if that interests you, and consider enhanced ebook formats for markets that might support more bells and whistles.

Rethink your promotional strategies. Rather than target each new release and then move on, try to focus on the market and peddle all of your books appropriate to a single market in groups or on sites that market frequents. I’m currently in the process of updating my other books to include an excerpt of my new novel and link to it on Amazon. It’s a big job, but every little sale helps. And if you have the money to advertise, then check out those listed above as well as doing smaller promotions on book blogs and reader sites such as Goodreads, or targeted advertising on Facebook.

And keep on keep on with getting reviews. It’s time consuming and sometimes heart-breaking, but it will help sell your book to readers who might have no clue yet who you are, and they just might become permanent fans.

Most of all, keep on writing, reading and growing as an indie author and I wish you success and sales in 2013.